The Dragons continued to dominate territory as Perpignan offered precious few
glimpses of their attacking potential, but the Welsh outfit could not convert
pressure into points.

Percy Montgomery snatched a drop-goal attempt on 27 minutes, drifting his kick
wide under no pressure from 30 metres out, and Perpignan were content to soak up
anything the Dragons could throw at them.

Perpignan launched a dangerous attack 10 minutes before the break, and it took
some frantic Dragons defending to deny centre David Marty.

The visitors still gained a penalty for their efforts, but Giannantonio missed
a straightforward chance after being handed responsibility ahead of the more
prolific Edmonds.

Our Welsh squad members had come back to the camp with a bit of a buzz and that lifted everyone here

Dragons coach Chris Anderson

From the restart, Cooper sprinted deep into Perpignan territory - finding
flanker Jamie Ringer in support - and his return pass sent Cooper over for a
sparkling try converted by Sweeney, making it 10-0.

The Dragons needed to consolidate their advantage early in the second half,
and they struck within four minutes.

Perpignan's defence failed to shut down space just 25 metres out, and Brew
breezed his way through before sending Morgan over wide out.

Sweeney failed to convert, yet just when it looked as though the Dragons were
entering cruise control substitute hooker Steve Jones' indiscipline - a needless
illegal tackle - briefly allowed Perpignan back in.

The French side established a promising field position, and Robertson touched
down unopposed in the corner.

Edmonds' effortless touchline conversion further
narrowed the gap, prompting a severe lecture to his team from captain Michael Owen.

Owen's rallying call worked wonders, because just two minutes later Brew cut
back inside on an unstoppable angle to touch down between the posts and hand
Sweeney a simple conversion.

Brew's try came in a second-half onslaught by the Dragons

The all-important bonus-point score arrived with 11 minutes still remaining, as Perpignan
once again retreated in defence to effectively wave Tuipulotu through.

The two sides meet in the return fixture at the Stade Aime Giral next Saturday.

"We just have to believe," said a delighted Dragons coach Chris Anderson. "We've beaten them once and we have to believe we can do it again.

"We got in their faces in defence to shut them down, and that was so important to build our confidence before going over there next week.

"Our Welsh squad members had come back to the camp with a bit of a buzz and that lifted everyone here.

"Michael Owen's leadership was great and Gareth Cooper is just a quality player."